By Khulekani Dumisa

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design boss, once declared that the Range Rover Evoque saved the Land Rover brand. This is hard to dispute looking the Eviqoue’s global sales of nearly 800,000 units and well over 200 international awards since launch. The new Evoque is here and early indicators are that the car will continue to do well for the Land Rover brand.

New exterior looks

Outside the Evoque retains its distinctive roofline and rising waist but gains super-slim Matrix LED headlamps with a new front and rear lamp graphic. These are complemented by directional indicators which point out the direction the car is going in style. Flush door handles are introduced and keep the car’s body looking sleep when not deployed.

Superior interior

Inside, the Evoque oozes class and quality. The sophisticated twin touchscreen Touch Pro Duo system has been introduced. It features new, faster software and 16-way seat, and climate controls.

Since the Evoque now employs a longer wheelbase, occupants benefit from 20mm extra rear kneeroom. This increase also sees the larger glove box and centre cubby able to store more items. The boot grows by 10% to a decent 591 litres. This increases to 1,383 litres when the back seats that that split 40:20:40 are folded down.

Enhanced off-road capability

Land Rover has bequeathed the Evoque with Terrain Response 2 which is available as standard for the first time on new Evoques with all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission. New Auto mode allows the system to select the most appropriate mode for the conditions and automatically adjust its torque delivery to suit the terrain. This mode complements four available modes, namely Comfort, Sand, Grass-Gravel-Snow, and Mud and Ruts. Adding to capability off-road, all-terrain technologies such as Hill Descent Control, Gradient Release Control, All-Terrain Progress Control and ClearSight Ground View are made available. The latter uses cameras in the front grille and on the door mirrors to project a feed onto the central touchscreen to show what is ahead of and underneath the front of the vehicle with a virtual 180-degree view.

Technological advancement

Drivers often struggle to see through their rear-view mirrors when passengers or large items in the back get in their way. The Evoque introduces a new smart rear-view mirror which transforms into an HD video screen at the touch of a button. This system displays a rear-facing camera feed onto the rear-view mirror thus ensuring that passengers or objects do not get into the way of the driver. Should the camera be obscured, drivers can change back to a traditional rear-view mirror at the flick of a switch.

Engines and drive

South African customers have a choice of 132kW/430Nm diesel and 183kW/430Nm petrol engines, while a 221kW plug-in hybrid will be added to the range early in 2020. The engines are paired with a nine-speed automatic gearbox. The diesel, known as a D180, returns a claimed average fuel consumption of 5.8l/100km and is capable of accelerating from 0-100km/h in 9.3 seconds. The petrol, known as the P250, returns a claimed 7.4l/100km average fuel consumption and sprints from 0-100km/h in 7.5 seconds. Both engines were made available at launch. The petrol is naturally more eager but the diesel sounded much smoother and more composed. The fuel consumption is naturally lower in the diesel and would be the one we go for unless more power and speed is required daily.

New Range Rover Evoque pricing:

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 D 132kW D180                                        R734,300

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 D 132kW D180 S                                     R784,300

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 D 132kW D180 SE                                   R843,800

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 D 132kW D180 R-Dynamic S                  R813,000

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 D 132kW D180 R-Dynamic SE                R872,500

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 D 132kW D180 R-Dynamic HSE             R920,200

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 D 132kW D180 First Edition                    R945,900

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 P 183kW P250                                         R776,300

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 P 183kW P250 S                                      R826,300

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 P 183kW P250 SE                                   R885,800

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 P 183kW P250 R-Dynamic S                  R855,000

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 P 183kW P250 R-Dynamic SE                R914,500

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 P 183kW P250 R-Dynamic HSE              R962,300

Range Rover Evoque 5 Door 2.0 P 183kW P250 First Edition                     R987,900